The second set is on Dick's Picks #12 but the first set is either board or AUD. The board is frustrating where it puts both guitars in the left channel but I guess there's no matrix yet. Aside from that and even though it's dry, like much of the '74 recordings, I love the tones on this board and the drums. You can't hear Keith as much as the previous (and better, overall) night. (There were actually 3 shows in the region). This was the Dead's 2nd appearance of 24 at the Garden (more than any other band).

First Set. Mississippi is better than the version the previous night and the energy continues through a non-plodding Musta Been Roses. Staying uptempo, BAM, Jack Straw motors with double-fills from Billy. BiODtL-7 and the rest of the set is by-the-numbers except for a landmark Mexicali, a surprisingly stellar example of this sometimes-filler song with Jer exceptionally spry. '74 just wasn't the year for Sugaree.

Second Set. Scarlet may be a best-of-74, up there with 9/11 Ally Pally. There are many good Big Rivers in '74 (6/16, 6/18, 8/06, 9/10, 9/11) but this could be The Oneness. To Lay Me Down may be the best of 73/74! Me & My Uncle is freakin fast but not as good as the night before. Weather Report is the start of a weird 52 minutes, the best of which is the jam going into US Blues. Believe it when you hear it, but look for "Let it Grow if Heaven Help the Dark Circumstance Star" (sorry, but these aren't the four Mind Left chords). Billy charges into US but Jer wants to keep didlin' for a few minutes before the verse. The rest of the set is average.

Stellar moments and a weird jam but otherwise check out the night before.

1st Set:  B-
2nd Set: B
Overall = 3 1/2 Stars

Highlights:
Mississippi
It Must Have Been the Roses
Mexicali
Scarlet
Big River
To Lay Me Down A+
Me and My Uncle
Jam>US Blues

Still one of my favorite jams of all time. Happy 40th, 6-28-74!

one of my very favorite shows ever!

WRS>Jam is everything that's been said and more. its THE reason to hear this show. the only other mind-left-body jam i can think of that comes remotely within the same galaxy as this one is 7/31/74, but its way shorter and doesn't go through the mindbogglingly telepathic changes as this does. besides the 6/18/74 WRS>LIG>TOO>Sin i would, along with kola67, argue this is the pinnacle of the band's improvisational skills(but to a lot i'm probably stating the obvious LOL)...

i don't think its been mentioned already, but this show also has some other highlights which pale in comparison but are still real tasty. a really hot Scarlet, GDTRFB, and also the best U.S. blues ever, which emerges from the aforementioned JAM...


DP 12 is a top five pick!

does anyone have a copy of this theyd like to trade? i already have the second set on my dicks picks 12 but ide like to have this version to especially for the first set. thanks cb18201@hotmail.com

The Weather Report Suite Prelude > Weather Report Suite Part 1 > Let It Grow > Mind Left Body/Heaven Help The Fool Jam is worth the price of admission.

My understanding is that Dick had to fight tooth and nail to get any show released. Which goes a long way in explaining why DP 36 was what Dick wanted released as DP 1 and obviously didn't get out until 35 releases later. It's a good thing they pulled their heads out their asses and listened every now and then.

GO BUY DP 12!!!

Peace.

Beginning with a very strong Weather Report, a U.S. Blues that begins to put everything back into the bottle and concluding in an encore with Jerry's playing in Ship of Fools "a major heavy duty ballad in the key of b-flat."

to answer the (rhetorical?) question posed below, I say yes the 30 minute jam is the greatest moment in live GD history. And I'm a big fan of the many different styles the band covered from 1967-77 without one other moment rising above several other favorites. I'm sure there are more gems to uncover but I almost can not conceive of anything matching the sheer brilliance of this jam. From the dark ashes of space following a terrific WRS it evolves into the most beautifully rendered and involving MLB Jam ever and then goes through multiple different tempo's, styles and landscapes with the entire band contributing, all telepathically on the same magical wavelength throughout, never losing any momentum. It goes so many different places, that if it doesn't have you going crazy you just don't like the Dead. Spend the dough to get this Dick's Picks, for me it's the one DP (other than maybe the HCS on DP #1) that gives you jamming you just won't find in some similar context from another concert here on the Archive.

Although I too cry over the fact that we can't get the leftovers from this show to complement the Dick's Picks, we have to sacrifice those notes so that the other 2800 shows can live. Thanks to the GD organization for your generosity. I will keep buying Dick's Picks as soon as they are released.

Aw, what the heck, give us those extra songs, pleeeeeeeeaase?

:-(

but (as others have described) the jam between WRS and US Blues is just incredible. At this point in it's evolution, the MLB jam was pure perfection. Then it's into a sweet, sweet Dark Star jam (oh, if only they'd played it all!). But then it's into another incredibly sweet little minor-2-chord jam, then continues with little peaks until dissolving into an interesting space-jam, back into some jamming, then it's into US Blues.

Here's my subjective breakdown (with approximate duration and cumulative total)

jam (spacey noodling, mostly): ~4:45 (4:45)
MLB jam: ~5:30 (10:15)
Dark Star jam: ~4:00 (11:15)
jam (2 chords): ~5:00 (16:15)
jam (jazzy, multiple themes): ~4:30 (20:45)
space-jam: ~5:00 (25:45)
jam (jazzy): ~3:15 (28:00)

This was my first Dick's Picks (a gift from a friend) - I was not dissapointed (what an understatement!). You won't be either.

I had this first on a decent AUD tape with some dropouts- I marveled at the MLB jam. I've heard a lot of Dead, but I never heard them go where they went with this show. There's every reason to plunk down the change to get Dick's copy. Unbelievable snapshot of the band working true alchemy.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the Jam at the end of Weather Report Suite is "THE BEST JAM EVER" by any band. What begins as an excellent version of Let it Grow (my favorite) quickly dissolves into a Space>Dark Star diddy. After some sweet noodling by Jerry, the Dead reach for the heavens with some amazing interplay that snakes thru Mind Left Body Jam and other multiple grooves before slipping into US Blues. Jerry often mentioned that the Spring/Summer '74 tours were his favorites.

Definitely one of the best shows. Can't beat the Let it Grow and the jam that follows.